Investigators Warn Of Scam Advertising Police Phone Number

Investigators say a woman was being scammed when she got what she believed to be a police department phone call saying there was a warrant out for her arrest and that she needed to close it by sending cash.

The woman in Concord got a call from a number identified as belonging to the Keene Police Department.

She sent cash via MoneyGram to a "pre-paid" credit card. The "officer" she spoke to later told her she would need to send more money. She called the Keene Police Department directly and was informed she was the target of a scam.

Police believe the caller was using so-called "spoofing technology" to alter the caller ID. Keene police have received several complaints about the scam.

The police department in Nashua is warning residents of a phone scam where callers are portraying themselves as employees of the Internal Revenue Service and demanding money.

They say in the most recent scheme, an elderly couple was contacted and advised that they owed a certain amount of cash to the Internal Revenue Service. They were told that if payment was not received, they would face immediate arrest.

The caller provided detailed instructions advising the couple to withdraw cash and to then purchase gift cards/green dot cards.

Senior citizens across New Hampshire and New England are the targets of a lottery scam originating from the Jamaican area code 876.

Here’s what happens: seniors receive a call from an 876 area code, often mistaking it for a toll-free number. They’re congratulated on winning a lottery or new car and asked to provide a fee of up to $4,000 to process their winning.

The money is typically requested through a wire service, or an unconventional method—such as placing 100 dollar bills between the pages of a magazine. Scammers also pretend to be IRS, FBI or Customs agents.